The present invention relates generally to drinking water dispensers and, more particularly, pertains to an assist device for mounting a replacement water bottle on top of a free-standing dispenser.
It is common practice to provide in many office, institutional, and factory locations, a free-standing drinking water dispenser having an inverted, large bottled water reservoir that requires periodic replacement. Typically, the water bottle has a five-gallon capacity. Although heavy glass bottles have been replaced over recent years with plastic containers of the same capacity, a full bottle, even in comparatively lighter plastic, weighs approximately 53 pounds. Removal of an empty bottle from the dispenser and replacing it with a full one requires a manual lifting and inverting operation with respect to the full replacement bottle which is not an easy task for any individual.
The foregoing problem has been recognized in the prior art and one solution offered is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,653,413 which contemplates eliminating bottle replacement on such a dispenser by utilizing pump apparatus to move a volume of water to the dispenser-mounted bottle from an adjacent source bottle. This approach has not been universally well-received, and manual bottle replacement continues to be the common practice.
The present invention addresses the foregoing problem by the provision of a device which an individual, charged with the responsibility of water bottle replacement on a free-standing dispenser, can utilize to assist in the bottle installation procedure. The device of the invention is simple to operate, inexpensive to manufacture, and easily removable from its operative position when not in use.